A Series of Unfortunate Events
by KeepCalmAndFanfic
Summary: Oh, yes. Unfortunate. The word "lucky" has never really applied to Gingka and Co. in the past, so why should it now? They've got their hands full, alright, with new troubles, old problems, and future difficulties. As they fight for the truth, past friendships may even turn into sparks. Teehee...
1. Driver's Ed

**Hallo, it's Allie - KeepCalmandFanfic. Anyway, this is a new story that (hopefully) I'll continue and update frequently. I'll try. As if… but seriously.**

**If anyone's wondering, this is in Yu's perspective, set about a year after Metal Fury.**

**I've also decided to do a disclaimer: I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade **

"Gingka! Pay attention to the road!" Madoka yells at the redhead from the back seat. He swerves back into our lane. Tsubasa wipes a drop of sweat off his brow. Since he started teaching Gingkie how to drive, Tsubasa's been a lot more stressed out. He's already written his will.

"Ah! Gingka! Keep your hands on the wheel!" he exclaims, reaching his limit with Gingka. The silver Honda Fit edges extremely close to the white line. It seems that the younger has pretty much passed his tolerance with this whole thing, too. He throws his hands up in the air.

"AAAAHHH! STOP SCREAMING AT ME!" he screams, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. Tsubasa grunts and grabs the steering wheel, trying to get us back on track despite the lack of a qualified driver. We seem to be driving straight, but there's a traffic light up ahead. It turns from green to yellow, as we zoom ever closer. I can feel the car accelerating, as the light gets closer. Madoka is going crazy now.

"GINKGA! SLOW DOWN! PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE!" she shrieks. Gingka opens his eyes, a terrified look on his face, as the light turns red.

We're going at full speed now, but nothing is registering in my mind.

A black jeep starts moving towards us. No- we're moving towards it. We just ran a red light. Gingka starts bawling, claiming through his sobs that the brake's not working. Madoka extends her arm over me, as our car slams into theirs. A loud scream hurts my ears. Tsubasa throws himself over the younger teen as the window shatters. My shield is down, unconscious.

Loud sirens sound from all angles. Black dots appear at the edges of my vision. My head pounds, and right before the world turns black, all I see is red.

**So that's the end (of the first chapter) and I know it's really short and everything, but again, I'll try to come up with the rest ASAP.**

**Oh, and if anyone's curious, or upset, or any of the above - no, they are not dead. Character death upsets me. I just like torturing them.**

**Bya! And please R&R**


	2. The White Hospital

The first thing I see when I wake up is black.

Then I realize it's because my eyes are closed.

So I open them.

Light floods the room, illuminating the white walls, white bed, and evidently a white doctor. I clear my throat, and he turns around.

"Oh, good. You're awake. How're you feeling?" he asks. I'm slightly taken aback by his instantaneous greeting. It takes me a second to register what he just said.

"Umph fnmph," I try to say, but my mouth is stuffed with cotton. That's when I notice how sore I feel. It feels like someone tore my skin off, dipped my in glue, and then sewed it back on again. A combination of burning and exhaustion surges through my body, as I struggle to get into a more comfortable position. The doctor looks slightly amused, as I grunt against the effort.

"You've recovered well, little boy. You'll be out of here as soon as possible," I heave a sigh at Tsubasa's favorite way of taunting me; "Little boy." Wait- Tsubasa. Where is he?

"Whurumph aremph – " I spit the cotton out of my mouth, "Where are they? Are they hurt? Am I dead? We were in a car! Are they all right?" I babble. The doctor just nods his head in bewilderment, like a parent hearing his child's account of why the crystal vase is in shards.

"Um, I think you had too much laughing gas…" he turns around; continuing on his original task of filling out what I can only assume are my medical forms.

"My friends – are they okay? I need to know…" tears fill my eyes, remembering the last thing lodged up there in my recent memories, the crash, sirens, and blood…

"I'm not authorized to say anything, young man," he starts, "but I guess you can just see them for yourself."

The next thing I know, I've been hooked up to a portable IV machine and I'm being rolled in a wheelchair down the pristine white halls of the hospital. _Someone must _really _like white, making an entire building assume the one color and all._

Several doors with signs pass behind us. The anesthetics department. The cardiology sector. The physical therapy room. Finally, the nurse wheeling me enters the Intensive Care unit. The label doesn't exactly indicate what I was hoping for.

We slow down a bit as we reach their room. Large windows overlooking surgeries and patients coughing up blood do little to calm my nerves.

Wow. I didn't even notices that I was nervous until now.

The nurse stops me abruptly in front of a door. The number above it says in fake gold plating, "8AB13." She pushes me inside, cautiously, as if we were going to wake up a sleeping baby or something.

I tend to tell myself things just to make light of situations I don't want to face. Like when I first caught a glimpse of my friends, all wrapped in bandages, I wanted to scream. What I saw were not my friends; they were the charred remains of my friends.

What I didn't know what that when there is a collision, the impact of two moving objects creates friction, in turn, creating heat energy. I really should've.

On two adjacent hospital beds were Gingkie and Tsubasa. Madoka was nowhere to be seen, but the nurse had already assured me that she was doing fine and had made a miracle recovery, like me. The others, however…

Tsubasa was worse. Way worse. Gingkie's driving skills were insufferable, and it definitely showed by his wounds. While I only had a few bruises on my arms and face, the boy that lay in front of me looked like he was burned at the stake.

Peeking out of the bandages that practically cover his body, there are deep blisters the size of onions. A white cloth takes the place of his usual blue headband, with dark red blood slowly soaking through.

I don't even want to get started on Tsubasa. Vile rose in my throat as I peaked at the combination of bloody bandages and open gashes in front of me. I look away.

Down the hall, a brown-and-pink blur comes towards me. Upon closer inspection, it's everyone's favorite mechanic, Madoka. She's leaning forward in her wheelchair, as if it's going to make her go faster. The nurse finally stops in front of our door and pushes her in. She sports a bright pink cast on her right arm, but other than that, just a few cuts and bruises.

She doesn't notice me. Right next to me, and all she seems to be worried about is Gingka. I mean, that's nice and all, but come on! I tap her on the shoulder. She turns towards me, startled.

"Yu! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she shouts. Well, as loud as you can shout above a whisper.

"I was here first, you know!" I exclaim. Truthfully, I'm glad for a moment's distraction so I won't have to look at, well, you know…

"Oh, Gingka! He's gonna feel horrible when he wakes up. If he wakes up…" she mournfully wipes a tear from her eye, and I feel the need to comfort her. I don't know how to, though, when I'm feeling the exact same thing. I do the only thing that ever comes to mind – look on the bright side.

"Of course he's gonna wake up! They're fine, they're just taking a little nap, that's all! They're going to get better, and take us out for burgers later, just like they promised! They just have to," I sob. Deep down, I know it could go either way. And judging by the condition the two of them are in now, it could be days before we find out. I just hope it's worth the wait.

"Yeah," is all she says. We sit there for a few minutes in not-so-awkward silence, which is odd for us. Especially me, as Tsubasa always says. I have so idea what he's talking about.

Our nurses, who I'd not even realized had left, came back and started wheeling us out. We wave our hands frantically, trying to get them to stop. No matter how disturbingly injured they are, they're still our friends, and we can't just leave them.

"You have to go. Mr. Otori is getting prepped for surgery. We must leave them. Trust me, it's not something you want to see," my nurse, evidently named Amy Whitewash (go figure), says. Madoka's eyes widen.

"W-what! Surgery! Wha – how?" she stutters.

"He broke a few ribs during the crash. You two were lucky you were sitting in the back seats, or you could've been seriously injured."

I fight my inner ADD, thinking, _Well, if Gingkie wasn't driving in the first place…_

I sigh. We part, me going back to my white room and Madoka going back to what I can assume is a bright pink room by now. I catch one last glance at my inured friends, before the door shuts. _If only they would just wake up…_

**Aaaaaaaaaannddd that is the end of my second chapter. do you like it? Just for the record, I've never actually ****_read_**** the Unfortunate event series, but I've heard about it (my friends are book nuts) so I probably will end up reading it... but it seems pretty self-explanatory as it is. Here I go again, blabbering on and on and on. But yeah, anyway, R&R, I EAT REVIEWS FOR BREAKFAST! (mm, tasty!) He-he-he... I'm so messed up...**


	3. Safe and Sound

**First, let me say that I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I redid this chapter so many times completely that I don't even know where I stand anymore. Hope it's good. Ish.**

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Tsubasa's POV

"You are making a remarkable recovery, Mr. Otori," the hot nurse in the fishnet leggings says to me. Her words ring in my head. "How are you feeling?"

"Immaaagoooodff," I mutter, slurring my words. One of the side effects of Cymbalta, added to my pain relievers, is this incoherence. Which is funny, because I know exactly what I want to say but it just comes out weird. Funny.

"Doctor Seehow will come by soon with your prognosis. For now you should just rest up," she says, tucking my sheets around me. It occurs to me that this might be slightly unprofessional, but why complain? "Maybe you can watch something on TV while you're waiting."

I nod, carefully avoiding speaking. _Flora Whitingale. Dreamy._ The hottest nurse I've ever known? Yes. I may have to get hurt again sometime just to come back here.

She struts out of the room in slow motion, slowly shutting the door behind her. I think I may have caught a wink somewhere in there. Oh yeah – another side effect is mild hallucinations. Did I just imagine that whole thing? I'm going crazy. Might as well tune in.

On the side table next to me is a remote. Picking it up, I quickly scan the TV guide pasted to the bottom. Channel 53 – News. I don't know what it is about the news, but I feel like if I don't know what's going on with the rest of the world, I've basically trapped myself in a cage. Of ignorance.

The black box on the wall hums to life. Obviously a 2003 set, with it's bulging back and static CRT screen. Looking down at the remote again, I realize how stupidly these hospital TVs were made. Why put the number pad on the remote instead of the box? Why should the patients, who are completely incapacitated in most cases, be subjected to scanning through all the channels just to get to the one they wanted to see in the first place? It's these little annoyances in life that really annoy me. That and Gingka's driving.

Yes, the driving that put everyone in the car in mortal danger, not limited to him or even me. First of all, if it hadn't been cold that day, we all would've died. And if Yu hadn't spent an extra twenty dollars on ice cream that one time, I would still probably have feeling in my right arm. That twenty dollars could have been used to buy a thicker jacket, and if I had a thicker jacket, maybe the fragments of windshield wouldn't have pierced so deeply. If it hadn't been that one unusually cold day in the middle of fall that's just twenty degrees colder than all the rest, I would have bled to death and any efforts to protect Gingka would have been in vain.

So you can see how I'm jumping for joy right now. Especially when I finally reach the 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd channel, and the first thing that comes up is my least favorite reporter, Marvin Mayhem. Gosh, he can just go to hell for all I care. See, I know his guy personally. Just another hater. A hater who happens to have his own Beyblade talk show, which happens to be broadcast on the _news _channel of all places, who also happens to be my personal stalker ever since I stepped foot in the European Beystadium. Yeah. He's out to get me.

Not unlike most days, I'm his background for what appears to be his segment, "Afraid of the Dark." I'm not a fan to be reminded of _those_ days, but apparently he is. If I'd never met him, it would seem more like a delusional fangirl act than a hater broadcast. They usually aren't hard to handle, unless a. they are a guy and b. they have your address. He's both.

I patiently wait out his rant and some rather, um, disturbing pictures of my battles as Japanese News and Entertainment Network comes on.

"And bringing you the latest and greatest from Tokyo, Japan, Dako Hakoshako!" an imaginary crowd applauds off-screen as the reporter, infamous for openly humiliating his guests on camera, turns around dramatically in his swivel chair. To dramatize it even more, he flamboyantly flips his hair (which is in a comb over by the way) and blinks seductively, looking somewhere just shy of the camera lens. I seriously wish I had the charm to pull that off.

"Hey, all you folks out there. I bring to you breaking news."

To the point.

"I'm going to be frank when I say this, now, some of you out there may not like this, particularly bladers, and I just want to put out there this: Don't shoot the messenger. Berney, the video, please?" he says bluntly. I've never seen a show so stiff like this. Or so out of character for the usual sugar-high of a guy that is Dako. He's never mentioned bladers before in the three years this network has been running. Not once. It feels so personal now.

An automated computer voice starts immediately after the first scene comes into view. It's more of a slideshow, really. "Early on, many years ago, a star fell from the sky, and landed in Koma Village, a town adjacent to the Komagane main city. From it came the birth of today's fascination, spinning tops called Beyblades," the scene changes perfectly in sync to the voiceover, "To battle, two players with rip their tops into a certified beystadium and sees who's is the last one spinning. These beyblade fanatics call themselves 'Bladers.'"

Obviously. What else would we call ourselves?

"Over time, these bladers have created their own unique subculture. Recently it was added to the census list. They have their own unique style-" and the voiceover is cut off by Dako's face and voice. He looks genuinely irritated.

"Okay that used up half of my time slot. Anyway, the new name of this subculture has recently been tarnished by a certain group of men, most of which are thought to be teenagers around the ages of sixteen and seventeen. They are the only liable suspects for the murder of a young girl. There is thought to be four of them in all, but that is only the putative number. There have only been three found though, and the fourth is assumed to be dead, or escaped the country. If you see this person, please alert authorities. Thank you, and now on to some _important_ stuff…" as the anchor starts speaking about the weather, the picture of the teenagers on the screen flicks away. Even as it vanishes, the image is burned into my mind.

There were five of them. They all appeared to be wearing black eyeliner, and odd black and red clothing. Other things become clearer in my mind piece by piece: the many face and body piercings (not limited to nose gauges and eyebrow hooks), bleach highlights in their otherwise black hair, and shiny ebony colored platform shoes. They remind me of some people I met on a training journey, right after Battle Bladers. It didn't last that long, I only barely reached Tendo, Yu's hometown, before turning back home to Metal City. Along the way, I'd met a bunch of interesting people, many of whom weren't that friendly. The guy on the far right resembles Masamune, if he was taller and ditched that ugly green hoodie. He pains the back of my head the most. I _know_ I've seen them before, it's like there's a certain memory trying to resurface but just keeps getting pushed back under.

I eventually accept that I'm not going to figure anything out by thinking, and begin to flip the channels. I really don't want to watch the news anymore, and a lot of shows these days bore me. I come across my favorite channel; the Hub Channel. I'm ashamed to say, but not really. A new episode's on. My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. Dang it, Yu, for introducing me to it.

The talking ponies exchange lines back and forth across the screen. Pinkie Pie's looking flustered.

"APPLEJACK! YOU PINKIE PROMISED!"

"Dah!"

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**So yeah, that's the end of my incredibly boring third chapter, and I know the ending sucks, no angst, no humor, no nothing. (And yes, I made Tsubasa a brony. Just don't kill me for it) I did my MLP research. I just had to get something uploaded though, I literally redid this chapter four times in different perspectives and all. That and I was just too dang lazy to get off my butt and write. Please RxR, I want to know if the perspective switch thing was ok or too much. Thanks!**


	4. The Plot Twist

**And... again. I'm sorry about the wait and how short and rushed this chapter is, but hey. I tried. **

**I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade... no really.**

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Boring. Monotonous. Tedious. Dull. Colorless, lifeless, insipid, bland.

Those eight words describe my life perfectly at the moment. Since being released from the hospital a week ago, the most interesting thing that's happened was my eviction, for not paying rent on my apartment. Even though I was supposed to be exempt for, you know, being unconscious when it was due.

We're all pretty much living in the lobby of the WBBA building right now. Every day is exactly the same; Ryo breaks out in "Lucky Star" at the top of every hour, Hikaru screams at him to attend to something or other that is_ not_ singing, Gingka takes half an hour to swallow his "big, nasty" pills, Madoka bakes cookies for everyone, and Yu beats us all at board games. That kid is freaking _amazing_ with a die. But nothing changes the fact that we are trapped in this monotonous cycle, without any chances of escape.

It's twelve o'clock; cue the Immortal Phoenix.

"You must be my lucky star!" he sings in a terribly off-key voice, prompting the entire lobby the cover their ears with anything available. Their hands, their hair, other people's shoes, you name it. I pull my hoodie over my head to block out the noise, and stay like that for another fifteen minutes until he's done with his fifth self-sought encore.

"But I'm the luckiest by faaaaaaaaaaaaaarrr!" he belts, holding out the last note a _bit_ longer than needed. He eventually ends the note when his voice cracks, and makes his very flamboyant exodus in a ball of flames. It is now 12:21. Only thirty-nine minutes until the next performance. I know nobody would want to miss it.

"But Gingka, you know you have to take it!" Madoka exclaims. Behind me, Madoka is already attempting to coax Gingka into taking his medicine. Unfortunately, Gingka has a _slight_ fear of doctors or medication of any kind. I turn around to face them, and see tears in his big hazel eyes. Literally – he's gone low enough to use one of Yu's favorite tactics – the puppy dog eyes. He whimpers and sniffles like a two year old, and somehow I know it's genuine.

All of the sudden, I hear a loud thud, followed by the sound of a squeegee being dragged down a dry window. Everyone turns around. At first it's hard to tell what – excuse me – _who_ we're facing, but once the doors open, Kyoya falls through them, flat onto his face. Everyone rushes over, coming to his aid.

"Kyoya!" Gingka helps him stand up and regain his balance, before the proud lion pushes away the assistance. He's breathing heavily, with quick but deep inhales and exhales. Drops of sweat run down his face and drip onto the floor. I sigh, knowing that Ryo will probably make me clean that up later, anyway. He grunts and struggles to form words between breaths. People are getting impatient, waiting for him to say something.

"Just spit it out!" someone from the back of the circle yells.

Kyoya puts his hands on his knees, breathing not slowing at all. He's turned paler, and his pupils are abnormally dilated. Before he collapses, two words slip out of his mouth-

"He's back."

As he hits the tile with a thud, Gingka looks up, making obvious eye contact, and frowns. I nod in unanimous agreement; we both know exactly whom he was talking about.

Ryuga.


	5. The End of the Beginning

Madoka's POV

"Kyoya!"

"Yo-yo!"

"Kyoya-buddy! Wake up!"

"Get away, Benkei!" the lion roars. We all take a step back, besides Benkei of course, who kneels _over_ Kyoya and strangles him with a giant bear hug. A few smothers cries escape from the big lump, before the smaller of the two leaps out from under the larger, gasping for breath. "B-Benkei. Don't. Ever do that again," he groans.

"But, Kyoya-pal! You're all right! I missed you so muuuuuuuuch!" Benkei wails, once again catching Kyoya in a bro-hug and forcing him to back up into Tsubasa, who trips on Yu's foot and knocks over Masamune, which causes a chain reaction that ends in me falling into Gingka's arms. I quickly stand back up, mildly embarrassed and relieved at the same time. I can feel everyone, including Gingka, staring at me.

"He was out for twenty seconds!" Ryo exclaims, throwing his arms up in a dramatic flare. I shrug. As for Benkei, he's doing an excellent job at restraining himself.

"Okay, everyone. Nothing to see here, come on."

As most of the workers shuffle back to their jobs, the rest of us form a semicircle around Kyoya. He glares at Benkei before beginning his explanation.

"Listen, I have things to do. Gingka, we are not through. I'm still training my butt off while you're busy eating cookies with Madoka, so I'll just let you go on with that. But first, you should know that Nile called me. Ryuga's raising hell back in Egypt. Bye," he abruptly cuts off his speech and heads toward the door.

"Wait! Kyoya! What do you mean he's back? He _died_ like a year ago! People don't just die and come back to life!" Kenta exclaims with fury. I can just imagine his irritation with Kyoya right now, speaking loosely of his deceased mentor.

"Well, Jesus did."

"And I still don't know how more than half of the people in this room are Catholic.* But either way, I THINK IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT RYUGA IS IN NO WAY IN THAT POSITION."

Kyoya doesn't break character a bit for the boy. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger! Nile was the one who saw him, not me!"

"You… don't even have a phone, Kyoya," Gingka whispers. Fortunately, Kyoya either doesn't hear or simply doesn't care about the accusatory tone of his voice.

"If you guys want to try and approach that psychopath, be my guest. I don't wanna have anything to do with this."

"Yo-yo! Wait up!" Yu runs and clutches himself to Kyoya's leg as he turns toward the door. The Leone wielder grunts as he tries in vain to shake him from his leg.

"Get off!"

"Yu, stop harassing Kyoya," Tsubasa says blandly. I stifle a chuckle as the little boy quickly releases himself from the leg and stands up, traversing to the opposite side of the circle as Tsubasa. Kyoya, annoyed, flattens out the wrinkles Yu created in his pant leg.

The circle starts to fan out. Those who weren't very familiar with Ryuga, including Masamune, Benkei and Hikaru, are already going back to what they were originally doing . Except I have a feeling that Hikaru simply isn't in the mood to discuss her worst enemy just yet.

Tsubasa and Ryo are already down to the reasoning stage, rubbing their foreheads and counting fingers. Kenta has assumed the fetal position on the floor; head halfway between his knees, and Yu is trying to comfort him. I turn to Gingka, who's pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to relieve the headache that I know must be there, at this point.

"What do you think about this, Gingka?" I say softly as to not attract the attention of the others. He drops his hand down to his side and looks at me tiredly.

"I think something bad is about to happen."

"And me as well," we both jump at the sound Ryutaro's voice.

"Ryutaro! I didn't even know you were _here_!" Gingka shouts. Well, shout-whispers. Luckily no one seems to notice.

"I just had a _feeling_ that there would be a bit of commotion at this place today, and what do you know? I was right! And as always, I seemed to have arrived just in time. Wouldn't you say, Gingka?" he teases.

"Um… yeah… sure."

"I mean this in the nicest way possible, but can you just go?" I hiss. Gingka puts his hand on my shoulder to cool me down, but I can't. This guy always gets on my nerves in one way or another. I almost completely disregard the fact that GINGKA JUST PUT HIS HAND ON MY SHOULDER OH MY GOSH!

"As you wish," he proclaims, quoting one of my favorite movies of all time**. As he turns away, he says, "I smell babies in the future."

I feel my face contort into an odd mix of embarrassment, anger, giddiness, and repulsion. Gingka's expression, however, consists entirely of embarrassment. "That's disgusting, Ryu."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he says slyly before disappearing into the working crowd. I shyly spin on my heels to face Gingka again. He's blushing like a madman. I guess I can't blame him.

"He's… kind of odd, don't you think?" he eventually speaks, making my ears perk up at his voice.

"Yeah, well, I guess he's not at the top of our list, though. I mean, there's Tobio, for one thing."

"Don't forget Tetsuya."

"Right. We can't forget crabbypants."

"Yeah."

There's a bit of an awkward pause before Ryo's booming voice breaks the silence.

"Members of the WBBA, faculty, staff, and bladers, we have an announcement to make," he shouts. It takes me a minute to process what is happening. Sometime during that brief conversation with Gingka, the Japanese News and Entertainment Network crew came over to film the scene. Gingka gasps. I sidestep closer to him and mutter into his ear, "Is this really okay?"

He shakes his head and breathes, "No."

He looks around frantically for who knows what as his father continues. "As you all know, exactly eleven months and twelve days ago today, an evil power was let loose onto the Earth, and it was called Nemesis. Many lives were lost, including but not limited to, a strong blader named Ryu-" Gingka's Pegasus comes flying toward the camera lens and crashes into it, leaving shattered glass pieces littering the floor. Everyone in the room assumes a look of astonishment. Save Ryo, whose expression suggests more than anything else that he's trying to suppress a fit of rage.

"Um, that was my camera."

"Giiiiinnnkkgaaaaaaaa…"

"Dad, I swear-"

"Gingka! What the hell!"

"What in the name of Saint Kaito of Mount Fail-me-not was that?"

"You're going to have to pay for this."

"Camera 3 is damaged…"

"Sir, you'll just have to sign this form right here."

"GET OUT!" The lion comes to our rescue, scaring the glasses off of the nerdy news reporters.

After a quick nod in Ryo's direction, the men in collared shirts and neckties shuffle out of the building, dragging the monstrous camera along with them. Women in too-short-for-their-age dresses and Bluetooth earpieces strut out the double doors after them. As soon as all the reporters and any residue of the meeting left on the floor, aka any bits of glass are cleaned up, Ryo turns to his son with a furious look on his face.

"Gingka, I think you have some explaining to do."

The younger redhead looks down at his feet with guilt. "You can't tell them about Ryuga, dad."

"Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous. Think about it – if Ryuga wanted attention, he would just fly to America and broadcast himself on live TV or something. The fact is, the only reason we're even aware of his existence is because Kyoya happened to… call… on his phone… Nile. Maybe Ryuga's growing up. Maybe he doesn't even want us to know that he's alive, and in that case, we should respect that. He certainly doesn't want the whole _world_ to know," Gingka explains calmly. Ryo seems to think about this.

"That's very mature, Gingka. I mean, you didn't necessarily have to destroy a hundred thousand yen camera to get your point across, but you are right. Until further notice, we will not interfere with Ryuga."

"Oh, no. I don't mean we _shouldn't_ interfere with him. But I'd seriously doubt he'd want people to start nagging him about it, which is guaranteed bound to happen. I say we should send a party out to find him and bring him back. Anyone in favor say, 'Ay',"

"Ay,"

"Ay,"

"Ay,"

"Ay-ay, captain."

"Now, who gave you the authority to put an idea like that on the market?" Ryo asks.

"It's a democracy, dad."

"Oh."

I look around at the people who said ay. Aside from me, there's Tsubasa and Yu of course, and I think I may have heard a female voice somewhere in there. Hikaru, maybe?

"Well, I suppose we could work this out later, huh?"

"Deal."

Gingka and his father shake hands, and the group of us who said "ay" follow Gingka as he makes a beeline towards the exit. As we near the street, I ask him whether or not he meant it. About the 'we'll work this out later' part.

His reply is short and succinct:

"Never."

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**Footnotes: **

*** - I did my research on this. Like sixty five percent of Japanese don't believe in God or identify themselves with a religion, which is why this would be really weird to Kenta. Just saying.**

**** - If anyone didn't catch that, "As you wish," – Westley from the Princess Bride**

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**Thanks in advance for not flaming my horrible ending. And also - Finally! A long chapter that came in ****_less _****than five days!**


	6. A Whole New Meaning of Meaningless

**Hey yall… this is embarrassing. Sorry it took so long. But now I really hope it's good… er… just read it.**

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It's eleven o'clock at night, and the prime time for bears, insects, and poisonous snakes to be out. I tried telling this to Gingka, but since I'm a girl and he's a guy, I was just "over exaggerating." and it was fine.

It's been seven hours since we officially left the building to find Ryuga, without turning back. I'm surprised Ryo and the others haven't come looking for us yet. We've set up camp for tonight just outside the city, in the dry mountain-valleys on the East side.

Gingka and Tsubasa are down by the river, catching fish for breakfast tomorrow, and Yu is with them. Though I seriously doubt he's helping them at all; he's probably scaring the fish away. Because all the boys are away for a little while, I have a little time to talk with Hikaru. I've never really had a reason to talk with her before, but now that we're in this together, I'm curious about her motives.

"You're going to burn that fish if you just keep staring at it like that," she says to me. I jump, realizing the salmon I've been turning is on fire. I grab the blanket next to me and smother it, before realizing it's actually Hikaru's extra pair of pants. "That's a strategy."

"Sorry, I didn't know they were yours."

She shrugs. "It's fine. I accidentally threw your pink bra down the incinerator."

"Um… okay?"

I now remember why we never talked.

"What's with you and Ryuga?" I inquire. She cringes a little hearing his name; I don't blame her.

She sighs. "You'll just laugh."

"No I won't. Shoot."

"It's stupid…"

"I've listened to Masamune and Gingka argue for two years. I think I know what stupid is."

"Well, when you put it that way."

"Yeah, exactly. So what is going on?"

"You've gotta be more specific than that."

I huff. "I _mean_ why are you even coming with us! To find Ryuga! You know, that freaky guy who scared the living daylights out of you?"

"Well, you've got a point there."

"So tell me."

Now she's the one who's getting exasperated. "You just have to know everything, don't you!"

"Hey, I'm just asking a valid question, the least you could do is answer!"

"Fine! You want an answer!"

"Where'd you get that idea!"

"UGH! You know what, maybe I'm not going to tell you!"

"It's a simple question!"

"Simple as in simple minded."

"Don't even go there!"

"You went there first!"

"SHUT UP! YOU GUYS ARE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!"

We both jump at the sound of Yu's voice. I turn around to see a flash of his bright orange hair, and the rest of him marching through the tree branches. He plops down onto the ground next to me.

"You guys are seriously _annoying_ sometimes, you know. Like when you fight," he mutters.

"Well, it's Hikaru's fault. I was just asking her a simple question."

"It was not! You were the one who started yelling at me!"

"Don't you try and pin this on me, you were the one who-"

"What was the question, Hikaru?" Yu asks. It amazes me sometimes how the kid is able to completely disregard everything that's going on around him, just because he has a question. Incredibly, it seems to bring down the temperature a few degrees.

"N-nothing. It was nothing," she stutters. Yu raises his right eyebrow at her. I still think it's creepy that he can do that. Of course, since Tsubasa taught him, and now he takes the chance to do the eyebrow wiggle whenever he can.

"Hikaru, you can tell us," he says empathetically.

"Okay, I guess. It's about Ryuga," she replies.

"That little stinker."

"Yeah, I know. He's like, crazy. And my first real fear."

"I see."

"Which makes him the first person I was really ever afraid of."

"And you want to mend things with him?" Yu, suddenly a counselor, asks. Literally, he's rubbing his chin with his fingers.

"Well, now that you put it that way. I guess if I can come to peace with him, then," a tear rolls down her face, "I can finally be happy."

"And you're angry with Madoka for taking this so lightly? For alienating your feelings to her own? For not understanding your pain?"

"Leave me out of this," I snap. Hikaru's already angry with me as it is, and I really don't need Yu to put any ideas in her head.

"No," she weeps, "it's just that… Ryuga left a wound in my soul that can't be healed, and all that's left is…"

"A scar?" he prods.

"No, a hole."

Suddenly a loud cry comes fills my ears. At first it's just a high-pitched scream, but then a lower groan joins in. I wonder what Gingka and Tsubasa could've possibly got into; all I know is that it's most likely Gingka's fault.

Lo and behold, the two come trudging up the hill, soaking wet and grabbing their butts.

"Ah! What happened to you guys!" I shout. While Tsubasa just groans, Gingka manages a sheepish grin.

"Um, rainbow fish?" he asks, looking in his companion's direction nervously.

"Ugh! I told you there were no rainbow fish! There's not even such a thing!" he retorts, "even if there was, you really didn't have to pull both of us down onto that rock to 'get a better look'."

"What are you guys talking about?" Hikaru questions.

"Well, see, I found some rainbow fish down by the river, and I wanted to get a better look at them, but I accidentally tripped on a slippery rock and fell, and-"

"And you grabbed my shirt," Tsubasa adds.

"Yeah, and I grabbed his shirt, and, well, there aren't really any smooth, soft rocks like I'd thought, and we might've ended up on… that one…"

"The one I'd specifically said to stay away from."

"Sorry, Mr. Pooper Pants."

"I'm not a pooper pants. And besides, it's _party _pooper. No pants required."

"No pants required? I've been waiting for you to say that," Gingka says before beginning the process of unbuttoning… his pants…

"Gingka! What are you doing! Put your pants back on!" Hikaru yells. Unfortunately, Yu decides to join in on the fun.

"Oh, yeah baby!" he shouts, sliding the elastic off and tossing the cloth onto Hikaru's head. Suddenly I get the urge to get up and pants Hikaru. Sadly, she beats me to it, pulling down my skirt. Gosh, am I glad I decided to wear leggings today. I spin on my heels and grip her shorts as she runs away, causing her to both trip and the shorts to fall down to her feet. I catch Tsubasa's gape out of the corner of my eye, and smile.

Suddenly a bunch of feathers comes out of nowhere. I turn around to see Gingka wielding a grip of pillows, tossing them off to Yu and Tsubasa. One comes my way, and I catch it, secretly proud of this sudden coordination. It's all out war now. Tsubasa is even getting at it.

"Madoka, I'm coming for you!" Gingka calls, rushing towards me in his underwear. I try to run but end up tripping over my skirt and landing on my face. Next thing I know, he's pulling me up off the ground like the knight in shining armor I've always dreamed about.

"You okay?" he asks semi-seriously.

"Yeah," I blush.

"Tsubasa!" Hikaru materializes next to the silver-haired teen and wraps her arms around him. "I can't believe we almost forgot about you, little bird," she says wryly, almost imitating Reiji. She then proceeds to unhook his belt loops; all the while blushing like crazy. His pants fall to the ground and she climbs onto his back. Everyone gasps and stops attacking each other with pillows for a second.

Of course Tsubasa would wear My Little Pony boxers. Of course he would.

* * *

**Yeah… so… anyway… I know it's horrible there's horrible grammar and OOC and is kind of my version of a crackfic but ya know. I don't care. (hides and sulks in the corner)**


	7. Mortal Terror

**Thank you, Google Maps for helping me get my geography strait. Maybe someday I'll be able to thank for helping me use the right version of "strait."**

**I don't own Metal Fight Beyblade. Or those little balancey eagle things. But they are cool.**

* * *

Gingka's POV

If you've ever trudged through a desert at midnight with an empty stomach and an aching boredom, you understand me completely.

Earlier today, we started on foot towards Egypt from the ferry that Julian Konzern's father's friend's uncle's stepdaughter's second cousin once removed, owns. Normally he only gives three-hour tours, but since we had to cross the Bo Sea and that's where he just happened to be at the time, we got 13% off.

Tsubasa initially thought it was weird that the little boat, the S. S. Minho, could take us across an ocean safely, mostly because of some weird show he saw when he was a kid, but once we landed in Quindao, he shut up. From there we've just been hiking miles and miles. Well, if you don't count the half hour bus ride from Zhucheng to Xintai, or the taxi we took from Xuchang to Dawei. I mean, yeah, maybe we could've walked those two extra blocks during the motorcycle brigade and saved 200 Chinese Yuan, instead of waiting for twenty minutes in the car, playing Angry Beys on Tsubasa's iPhone, but it's for the times.

Unfortunately, the downside to using our "preferred mode of transportation" is that now we're broke and we have to walk. By broke, I basically mean that Madoka's going to kill me if one more dollar is spent on something other than food, water, or shelter. On the taxi ride, we pooled our money. Madoka, the amazing math-termind human calculator, was able to count, convert and divide our money into an even 33,492-yen. According to her infinite conversion database, that is 1,974 Chinese Yuan, 2,238 Egyptian Pounds and $325 American dollars. By World Championship Standards, where each team got a WBBA TransNational Advance Credit Card Unlimited, this is meager. Especially after spending 143 Yuan on the taxi, Madoka was pissed.

"Gingka, give it back," Tsubasa says blandly to me, not even looking my way. I almost forget that I'm playing with his cute little balancing eagle toy. It stays in the same soaring position at the tip of my finger, dipping and swaying but keeping balance. I used to have one of these, but instead of an eagle it was a ridiculously deformed turkey.

"Aww… Mr. Pooper Pants is always the life of the party," I say.

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's party pooper."

"Yeah, cause you're always taking a dump on the fun," I snap, feeling unusually irritable. I instantly feel remorse for it, as I see him slump a bit out of the corner of my eye. His bangs fall over his face, though, so it's hard to read his expression.

Hikaru puts her hand onto his shoulder. "Hey. You okay?" she says into his ear. I notice he doesn't flinch or pull away, like he used to whenever I tried to comfort him like that. Well, then again, that might be for a different reason.

"Peachy."

We continue to trudge silently along. The only sound is our feet shifting through the sand, and the distant call of a vulture circling its prey in the dark. I like birds of prey.

Madoka stops abruptly. And because she's in front, we all crash into her like dominos. Well, I do anyway.

"Do you guys here that?" she asks, holding her hand out back to us, as if motioning us to be quiet. "It's… like a hiss."

"Ha-ha-ha! That's funny, Madoka, now let's keep going…" I grab her hand and pull her along, but she just stumbles back.

"No, I'm serious. There's- like a little hum or something. I can hear it," she looks around.

"What are you talk-" I start.

"I hear it too!" Yu murmurs.

"It's coming from that direction!" Hikaru whispers, pointing west with a shaking finger. "It's getting louder!"

Everything goes completely silent for a second. Not even this inaudible sound that they keep talking about makes a noise. I fidget quietly with my belt where I hold my equipment, ready to go at a moment's notice should anything pop out at us.

"Is it gone?" Tsubasa asks. I almost forgot he was here. I'm about to just turn around and announce that we should get going, when I hear it. It's loud. Very loud. They were right; it is a hiss. And getting closer. I can tell, because it almost seems like it's right behind me. A soft rattle distorts the silence. Madoka gasps, followed by the others shortly. They're looking right behind me.

"Gingka," she breaths, "Don't. Move. An. Inch."

My hand flinches, beyond my control. She grits her teeth, gradually moving her hand behind her, where Yu holds a long stick. Getting a better look at it, it seems to have an odd bird's head carved into the top.

"What are you doing!" I speak through my teeth, as she holds the stick out in front of her, poised to hit. I glance down, where everyone's eyes seem to be drifting, and see a small head peaking out between my pants. I do a double take. Did I forget to zip up?

All of the sudden, I come to my senses, and figure out where Madoka's target it. It's weird that I didn't see it before, especially at where the stick is aimed. It's brought closer, the little bird head coming into focus. The snake bares its fangs, hissing at the end of the stick. A bead of sweat drops into my eye, and it stings. It takes so much effort not to cringe or wipe it away or just _move _in general that when I feel the sneeze coming on, I almost grunt with annoyance. Meanwhile, I think there's a tic in my nose. Apparently Madoka senses it, too.

"Gingka… don't move." She says to me, fixated on the snake.

"I can't!" I say. I can tell my face is morphed into deformed pre-sneeze expression, but there's not much else I can do. She decides to swing right then.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" I shriek. Everything happens right before I close my eyes. As the stick flies up into the unknown, I scream and fall onto my knees, not knowing anything could possibly be so painful.

"AH-CHOO!" There it is.

Then everything happens in slow motion. A loud hiss, a warning. A high pitched scream. Something's slithering down my leg; it brushes my leg, reminding me of what they do before you get a shot, with those antiseptic wipes. It's slightly comforting, or maybe I'm just delusional after that serious groin bashing.

Then it happens. An unbearable, burning pain shoots up my leg. I open my eyes to find them watery and my line of vision blurry; I realize I'm crying. Fat tears stream out of my eyes like a river and mix with my sweat. The feeling in my leg spreads to the rest of my body, and it feels like my chest is being crushed and I can't breathe. My vision's swimming and doing loops, but my hearing is sharp and all I hear is screams. My leg's going numb, but still burning and static. I can't move any of my body; all of my muscles are rigid and tight. My brain's shutting down and I can feel it.

Black spots appear at the edges of my hazy vision and my head throbs, unquestionably, but I'm not so afraid of the pain as I am afraid of the voices. What, ringing? Sounds that emphatically speak like language? I don't know what they say, so I call back.

_Hello! _I cry.

_Hello! _They cry back.

I look around at the darkness.

Then I fall.

* * *

**So... was it good or was it good? Jk. I don't really care. I'm finally getting back to my original plot line - cue gasp - about how it's "unfortunate" and all that crap. I'm not in a bad mood.**

**Don't read this next part if you don't want a spoiler alert: here it is - Yeah, guys. Gingka's not dead. If you were wondering, I'm not sure if I even put this in my first chapter or not (I meant to) but I'm not going to have any deaths in here. Or at least directly.**


	8. Recovery

**Yo dawgs, aqui es el (um… chapter?) nuevo, that I've been seriously slacking off on but anyway here it is. I just said that. New polls on my profile! Also, has anyone else seen Howl's Moving Castle? My cousin just showed it to me while on vacation down here, and I'm ****_in love_**** with it now. Just a random thought. And they put in some serious fan service, too. Peace! Now read.**

* * *

_There are voices in my head…_

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0O

_Wohwuhengumadaha ,_ they say.

_What ? _I shout back.

_Wohpuh wuhr wuhuhs._ They cry.

_I can't hear you!_ I exclaim.

_Ohpuh wuhr wys. _They repeat.

I realize they're saying, "Open your eyes."

When I first regain consciousness, I'm almost convinced that I'm dead. My limbs feel heavy and my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton, my throat burns and my right leg feels particularly balloon-ish, but the rest of me stings, almost like I've been sunburned. As I create a mental picture of my surroundings, I'm aware of two things. First, I'm lying on an itchy wool mattress, which might be the cause of this sunburned feeling. And second, I'm not alone.

It takes a lot of effort to force open my eyelids, especially with no desire to wake up, but eventually I'm able to do it. Light floods the room through sheer curtains, and a light breeze flows in through the windows. I try to sit up, but my muscles protest and I flop back down again.

Everything is blurry, but I'm able to make out two figures, one pink and one blue. My instincts tell me they're friends, but I can't remember any names right now. One of them gets up – the pink one – and walks towards me. Something's forced into my mouth, and somehow I swallow. Instantly my throat feels better, and my head clears. The pink one is Madoka, and the blue one is Hikaru. I can't remember exactly what happened last night, but by the looks on their solemn faces, it's probably a lot worse than a head cold.

Hikaru walks across the room and selects a bottle filled with brown liquid from the shelf, and whispers something to Madoka before handing it off to her. She nods, and traverses over to me with the bottle, holding it up to my lips. Even with out swallowing, the liquid runs down my throat. It creates a bubbling feeling in my stomach, and before I know it-

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELCH!" A loud one escapes from my lips. Neither Hikaru nor Madoka laugh, but instead look intently down at a crumpled piece of paper, pointing down and whispering.

The cold numbness in my arms and legs is replaced with intense, hot pins and needles. Somehow that drink must've given me strength, because now I'm able to prop myself up on my elbows and shake the tingling away. Hikaru notices, and looks up from the sheet.

"He's awake," she mumbles to Madoka.

"Happy Birthday," I grumble.

"Good to see your face again. You were out for-what was it- 18 hours this time?" she turns to Hikaru for clarification.

"Yeah," she nods, "something like 18, 19 hours since yesterday. Before that it was something like 34 hours."

"Um… what are you talking about?" I ask. Between morning dizziness and this nonsense riddling my brain, I'm already confused. Hikaru pulls up a bench for them to sit on and opens her mouth.

"Four days ago, you were bitten by a snake. Midwestern Sandback Serpent, most paralyzing poison in the area. You passed out, no surprise, and started turning blue. It was creepy. Now you're here healing."

"You left out like half the story," Madoka explains, "that some guy found us trudging through the desert, and took us to his inn. Tsubasa was carrying you, so that might've explained it. It was Julian's great aunt's late friend's grandson's friend's cousin, and word had gotten through to him about the world championships, and he recognized Tsubasa. I mean, he completely forgot about you, _Yu_, and me and didn't even know Hikaru, but he 'would've known that silver hair anywhere.' Anyway, he said he had a cure for the Sandback serpent and took us to this place. Actually, it was a rattlesnake, not a serpent, but everyone just calls it a serpent. He put some ointment stuff-"

"Hydriloxidate Bicarbonate," Hikaru corrected.

"Yeah, Hydro-whatto-ate bi-carbohydrate," she continues. I vaguely recall her saying that chemistry wasn't her thing. "To prevent infection. Wait, no actually that was the antibiotic, the hydro stuff was to temporarily reduce circulation in that vein so he could remove the toxin. And also apply the antivenom. Whatever he did, it worked, and now you're alive. Hikaru was worried sick-"

"Um, that was you."

"I'm the one telling the story here. You were out for like half of that, and only woke up a day later briefly. You were all disoriented, and I don't think you knew what you were saying."

I wonder what I said.

"Yeah, well, he wouldn't let us put bandages on your leg until you were fully awake, because he said we were the kind of people who would 'go too tight' and since you were asleep you wouldn't be able to tell us if it was. He had to go to a convention in Kuwait – that's a few hundred miles from here – and trusted us with the place. After all, he is Julian's great aunt's late friend's grandson's friend's cousin. He gave us some instructions for you, which we've actually been following, in case you're wondering."

I nod, and swing my legs over the side of the bed and attempt to stand up.

"Gingka! What are you doing! You're supposed to lie down in bed!" she exclaims. I raise my eyebrow.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because, you're weak and recovering. Don't make this a repeat of that one time. And yes, you know what time I'm talking about."

"The time where you had to bribe me with cake?"

"Obviously that time. If you don't sleep, you won't get better and we'll never be able to find you-know-who."

"I don't think it's _that_ bad," I roll my eyes a little at the ridicule of being stuck in bed _again._

"Gingka! Sit down! If you get up now, you know what the innkeeper said! You'll never be able to walk again! Does that sound so good now? A hydro-over-ate bi-car-bone-it tourniquetty thingy traps the venom in your leg right now, and once your blood gets pumping there's nothing blocking the rest of your body from the poison. If it gets into your brain or heart you could be comatose and be paralyzed for the rest of your life, do you hear me!" she practically screams. I'll admit, she's made a very persuasive argument. I think it over for a few seconds before making my decision.

"Can I at least have some cake?" I ask. She sighs.

"Of course you can, Gingka. Just wait here. You know, if you want to move around, I think the innkeeper has a wheelchair somewhere around here," her expression softens and I think I see a hint of pity somewhere in there.

"Maybe," I say, and she leaves the room. Hikaru gives me a knowing look as soon as she's gone.

"She's stressed."

I nod.

"What was that stuff you just gave me?" I inquire.

"Eh, just some oral antihistamines. Did you know you're allergic to wool?" she chips.

"I… no."

We sit for a while and the only sound is my coarse breathing and her fingers tapping impatiently on the wooden bench. Out of the silence, many things pop out at me at once. Everywhere, on the posts of my bed to the knobs on the cabinets, there are carved birds heads on everything. I can feel something tugging in the back of my mind, but like long division, it's just not registering. I _know _I've seen it before, but the memory just isn't surfacing. I'd ask Hikaru, but I have the feeling that she either wouldn't know, or would do that awkward chuckle thing. Like when someone's demented and you don't know how to approach him like a normal human being. But gosh, these birds are driving me nuts.

"You know, I think I'm gonna go check on Tsubasa and Yu," she says, getting up.

"Where even are they?" I ask.

"Yu's probably bugging Tsubasa and Tsubasa's probably trying to sleep. That or trying to contact someone back home," she answers. "Probably Kyoya or Benkei; they swore they wouldn't tell Ryo or anyone associated with the WBBA about anything we tell them. Yuki did, too, but Dynamis only said he would do the bidding of the stars, so we can't trust him. Can you believe that guy?" she finishes rambling, "Uh, so yeah. Try to heal up, because I think we're planning on leaving by tomorrow."

She leaves the room and slams the door. Well, by my dad's standards, it just barely _doesn't _count as a slam. Where was she going again? Oh yeah, to check on the others. I wonder what they're doing.

**Yu's POV**

"Hey, YO-YO!" I exclaim.

"Don't call me that!" Kyoya shouts via video chat. Tsubasa and I are trying to contact our allies back in Japan, and it isn't going well. For them.

"How's it going!" I giggle, readying the button behind my back. "We're all good! Right, Tsubasa!"

"Mm-hmm."

"Yu, can you get Madoka?" Kyoya snarls, annoyed and on the verge of lashing out over the computer.

"Oh-kay! You asked for it!" My finger hovers over the red button, all set to push.

"What did I ask for?" he asks, confused. I press it. The confetti bombs I set up all around the room explode, rigged by the coated wires I found in Batty's study. "Batty" is what I've decided to call Julian's great aunt's late friend's grandson's friend's cousin, the guy who owned the place. His black facial hair and elf-like ears remind me of a bat, especially because he wears dark nun clothes all the time.

"A party!" I declare, turning up the volume of the music to it's maximum. Tsubasa's twelfth favorite song, Wake Me Up, comes on before I can change it. He glares at me, however half-heartedly, and I shrug. He told me specifically never to play that song in front of him, but I don't know why. I hit the skip button a few times, passing various non-dance songs like "Heart of Glass", "Jar of Hearts", "White Flag", and by the time we get to "I Knew You Were Trouble," it's pretty clear that I accidentally took Hikaru's iPod instead Gingka's. Meanwhile, Kyoya's looking utterly confuddled on the screen.

"Yeah, well, we don't really care," Benkei crosses his arms in a childish pout.

"Whatever! The deal is, you tell us what you know, we don't tell Phoenix, and above all, YOU DON'T WASTE MY TIME!" Lions. Roar.

"C'mon, Yo-Yo," I start.

"AND DON'T CALL ME YO-YO!"

"Yeah, okay Yo-Yo. If you drama queens _must_ know, then I'll tell ya."

"Get on with it, then!"

"Okay, but first you have to agree not to scream."

"I do not scream. I roar and growl maniacally."

"Exactly. But you promise?"

"I promise already!" he bellows.

"If you insist.. Tsubasa?" I say, directing the conversation away from, well, me. He's leaning back on a wooden chair, eyes closed and arms crossed. He opens one eye.

"We know nothing," he says in a low voice.

"You guys are hopeless," Yo-Yo utters, banging his head on his desk.

I turn to Tsubasa. "He hadn't figured that out yet?" he does a minuscule shake of his head.

"Well, on that note, I think we'll be signing off then…"

"Bye, Yo-Yo!" I call. Just before the screen turns off, I think I hear him say something about not calling him something or other.

I think we did a good job though. Tsubasa's face palm proves it.


End file.
